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Extensive ape trafficking in West Africa

A journalistic investigation conducted in 12 West African countries revealed extensive trafficking of the region’s protected wildlife. This traffic mainly involves apes, especially chimpanzees, which are sold as pets through a complex chain of intermediaries including poachers, traffickers, transporters and buyers. This illicit trade, which also involves ape massacres during the poaching phase, jeopardises the species involved, even though the damage is difficult to measure. The report suggests that the UN figures on great ape trafficking in the region, where 1 800 animals were officially seized between 2005 and 2011, are largely underestimated. Read the report